FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Falcons’ two top linebackers didn’t participate in offseason team activities because of offseason surgeries, but both returned to the practice field Tuesday for the team’s three-day minicamp.
Sean Weatherspoon underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and Stephen Nicholas had surgery for a sports hernia, and both were able to do more than the team originally thought the last two days.
“We limited them in terms of the number of reps they got, but they got more reps than I anticipated they would,” head coach Mike Smith said on Wednesday. “We probably got them half of the reps in our team (11-on-11) periods. But it was nice to have both of those guys. We were very precautionary in terms of when we wanted to bring them back.
“Sean is an integral part of our team. He’s a three-down linebacker and, of course, Stepehen was our three-down linebacker last year.”
Middle linebacker Akeem Dent, the team’s starting middle linebacker, remains more of a situational player.
Weatherspoon was inactive on Nov. 4, 11 and 18 for games against Dallas, New Orleans (a loss) and Arizona with what was listed as an ankle injury. He posted three sacks last season in his first seven games before he missed those three games and then none after he returned.
Weatherspoon equivocated a bit when he was asked if the knee injury affected his performance late in the season and in the playoffs.
“I’m not sure,” he said and paused for a moment. “I was actually working out this offseason and just kind of started feeling kind of weird. During the season, I feel like I was as good as I was going to be. Everybody’s battling during the season. I won’t say it affected me.”
Once minicamp breaks Thursday, Weatherspoon and Nicholas will continue to spend some time around the practice facility, unlike other veterans.
“They will be in and out,” Smith said. “They’re to a point where they don’t need to be here all the time rehabbing. We want our guys to unplug just like they unplug after the season. We want them to unplug for a couple of weeks. We’re basically a month away, four weeks, away from starting our training camp. We want them to take a little bit of time, but we want to make sure they continue to work in the weight room. They’re not in a rehab mode any longer.”
Weatherspoon, the team’s first-round pick in 2010, said he feels “100 percent,” though he acknowledges that he needs to work on his conditioning.
“Just got to my endurance back up,” he said. “Over the five weeks we have, I’ll be working out, running and making sure I’m staying in shape.”
Wednesday represented the last day that quarterback Matt Ryan would speak to the media before the start of training camp as the question of a contract extension for him continues to loom over the organization. Throughout the process, Ryan and the team have provided little in the way of transparency on the situation. Ryan was asked if the situation represented a distraction to him at all.
“Not from me,” he said. “I’ve always been one that I feel like I need to worry about taking care of my business on the field and doing everything I can to be the best player I can be. I’ve always had the opinion if you do that, then the rest of the stuff falls in place and you leave that to people experienced in dealing with that, with my agents and people in front office. I have a lot of confidence in both sides we’re going to get this done and, hopefully, I’ll be here for a long time.”
Smith said that the team’s Friday Night Lights event, which has varied from an intrasquad scrimmage to a live practice, will take place this year at Gainesville High School. This marks the first time in four years that the Falcons have held the event outside of Gwinnett County. Last year it was at Peachtree Ridge. The Falcons also have held it at Norcross High, Brookwood High and North Gwinnett High. Originally, the event started out at Grady High in Atlanta.
During OTAs and minicamp college coaches often visit practice. Vanderbilt coach James Franklin and his staff visited during OTAs. Second-round pick Robert Alford was caught off-guard, however, on Wednesday to see coaches from his alma mater, Southeast Louisiana.
“They surprised me and came today,” he said. “They didn’t give me no heads-up or nothing. I was shocked when I saw them.”
